Lightning Speed
by Mnsk
Summary: When the Obito who activated the time seal finally appears, Konan is forced to reveal vital information about the trigger. Meanwhile, the Rinnegan eyes rest in a seal around the Godaime's neck and Naruto is sent on a mission to Ame. A continuation of The Resilience of Time.
1. Prologue: An Angelic Herald of Life

**Lightning Speed - _"When the Obito who activated the time seal finally appears, Konan is forced to reveal vital information. Meanwhile, the Rinnegan eyes rest in a seal around the Godaime's neck, and Naruto is sent on a mission to Ame. A continuation of The Resilience of Time."_**

_**Note: I suggest you read 'The Resilience of Time' first **_**(^^'')**

**Prologue – An Angelic Herald of Life**

The Lake of Ame was still.

Konan didn't know why, as the rain hadn't ceased to fall since Nagato's death. The villagers were celebrating. They assumed that the spirit of Pein-sama had returned from where he had sacrificed his life to protect them, and was displaying his power once more.

She had walked through the lively streets with a sinking feeling in her heart, until she came to stand at the edge of the Lake to look out over the unnaturally calm waters. The red clouds of her Akatsuki cloak gleamed in the evening light.

Something was about to happen, and she had to be prepared.

It was a month since he had died, and the village was recovering slowly but steadily. She'd told them that he had sacrificed himself, but had decided to leave the question of who he had died for to the people's imagination. It became known that Pein-sama had perished for his beloved village, and memorials stood at every street. Konan thought it fitting.

She felt the presence of someone behind her, and turned to see the man in Amegakure's jonin uniform.

"Konan-sama," he began, head bowed. "Won't you tell us why this is happening? The villagers wish to hear you speak." The people had grown increasingly bold in approaching her, and in a way she didn't like it. Konan preferred the silence that had come with godhood, even if she was uncomfortable with being seen as a god.

"No," she told him. "There is something I have to do first. Tell them to delay the celebrations. I won't breathe properly until the rain falls again." Her voice was sharp, and the jonin cringed in apprehension before flickering away.

Konan walked calmly onto a rock platform on the lake that was surrounded by still waters reflecting the grey clouds above, heavy with the rain that did not fall. There was only one other person who could calm the rains of Ame, and it was someone she had never wanted to see again. Nagato had died opposing him, and she would follow in his footsteps if she had to.

She had first suspected it almost a month ago, when she sensed Hoshigaki Kisame approaching the village gates. There had been no need to worry, because he would have died if he'd laid one foot within her village. But somehow, instead of entering he had simply disappeared. She'd waited for two weeks before realizing that he would not seek her out.

Kisame and Zetsu were both gone and she didn't know where. The knowledge of their presence weighed on her mind as a constant reminder that no matter how peaceful the village seemed, it was still not safe.

And so she stood there, waiting. The cool lake breeze tugged at the hems of her cloak and tangled the paper flower into her hair. It took another fifteen minutes for Uchiha Obito to arrive.

As much as she prided herself on her senses, she was still unable to tell where he had come from. He was simply and suddenly there, standing on the same rock platform as her and watching her with a single red eye that peered out through a bright orange mask.

"Konan," he greeted, "you know why I'm here."

Konan knew. She'd spent the last month carefully arranging the paper bombs beneath the lake, waiting for this very moment. She paid attention to the smaller things, the tiny details that everyone else missed. She knew Obito-sama's weakness.

She nodded silently.

Obito was still wearing the Akatsuki cloak, and she felt anger rise within her upon seeing it. Akatsuki belonged to her and Yahiko and Nagato and he had no right to wear that cloak anymore. But she held it down and waited for him to speak, silently summoning chakra into her fingers in preparation.

"Where is it?" He asked.

This was it. Faint tinges of worry pulled at her because she didn't think she had enough. Most of the paper bombs she'd prepared for the defense of Ame had been used to blast away the meteor, and she'd been too busy helping the village recuperate to gather more. But maybe, just maybe, if she used up every last ounce of chakra she could take him down with her...

Her arm twitched, wanting to raise and blast her jutsu as this person who had led Nagato to ruin. Ame would be fine, she had trained her council of jonin well. But something was holding her back. Something was whispering memories of a voice in her ear.

_If he…comes for… you… don't die, Konan. Stay… alive._

_Tell Konan… that she means everything. Tell her to… stay alive. _

Stupid, traitorous voice. She'd already made up her mind, but it wouldn't let her go on. It wouldn't let her die the same honorable death that Jiraiya-sensei had died. It made her loosen her arm, and smooth a blank expression onto her face.

"They took them," she forced herself to say. "They took them when they killed Nagato."

Obito gave her a contemplative look with that one eye, but she was not afraid. She had spent too long learning how act, and this was no exception. "For a moment, I thought you had left," he said, "why did you not find me after Nagato was killed?"

"I had a village to rebuild," The words flew smoothly. "Kisame and Zetsu did not return. I assumed they had left." She did not lie, but simply withheld the unnecessary truths.

"I found them," Obito told her. "You see, I was under a certain condition for the past five to six years, and was inclined to think the worst of you. The information that Zetsu revealed to me seemed to support that."

"Akatsuki belonged to us," Konan said. "We would never betray its cause." She was not worried by whatever Zetsu had told him. If he were certain that she had turned traitor, he would not even be speaking to her. He would attack. She had observed Obito-sama for years, ever since Itachi had first revealed his identity while she looked on, and knew his tendencies well.

Obito stood there in silence, head tilted slightly to one side. Slowly, almost carefully, droplets of rain began to re-emerge from the heavy clouds above, falling down upon their forms and disrupting the surface of the lake once again. It affected neither of them, but Konan felt relief tug at her heart. She wondered what the villagers thought.

"Who has them?" He finally asked. "And who killed him?"

Konan remembered the carefully penned letters sent to her by Konoha's Hokage, and the body that had been returned two weeks before. The letters had been filled with offers of aid and relief, but she had rejected every one, knowing that she could lead Ame herself. Introducing foreign influence into their closed-off village when it was like this would only confuse the people. One particular letter surfaced in her mind.

"The eyes are held by the current Hokage of Konoha, Senju Tsunade," she explained. "And the one who took down Nagato was a boy named Uzumaki Naruto." The names rung out in the silent lake, and only Nagato's final words kept her from feeling like a traitor.

Hearing that, Obito's single eye narrowed. "Come with me," he ordered. "The Akatsuki has a new base, right where _that _is located. We cannot operate in a village that is still rebuilding."

No. That she could not follow. She still had other things to do, and if she left them incomplete she really _would_ become a traitor to everything Nagato stood for. "I must decline, Obito-sama," she said. "Nagato would want me to stay and help Ame, and that is my priority. Do what you must, but I will remain here."

Her words were spoken with confidence, and Obito was silent for a while before continuing. She expected him to protest, or to demand otherwise, and was surprised when he relented.

"Fine," he said. "I will return with Nagato's eyes, after your village is rebuilt."

With that he disappeared, swirling into himself as he always did, and Konan was left standing alone among newly tumultuous waters.

**ooooo**

**Short prologue is short.**

**In case you were wondering, 'Lightning Speed' is the name of a Shippuden OST. My favourite is actually 'Flying Light', that one's just epic ;D**

**And the continuation is up! Does anyone get the Naruto reference in the chapter title (An Angelic Herald of Life)? Even my walking Narutopedia of a beta didn't get it and I'm just patting myself on the back. And**** I have a beta! 'uzumaki rakku' has awesome writing and I highly recommend that you look her up and go read her fics (^^)**

**I have discovered the beauty of alternate story lines. But unlike TRT where there were many, here there will only be three main ones :P**

**Review ^^!**


	2. The Reversed Mark & A Mission to Ame

**Chapter 1 – The Reversed Mark & A Mission to Ame**

* * *

The chair within the Hokage's office creaked as it leaned back and forth. Seated within it, Senju Tsunade held a letter, and frowning. She'd read the letter almost five times over, and it still made no sense to her. None at all. She leaned back again.

Five minutes of re-reading later, the figure seated on the other side of the desk sighed. He tapped the back of his brush against the seal paper spread out over the desk. "Stop doing that. The sound is grating, and you're going to fall backwards. It'll be the most pitiful death a Hokage has ever had."

Tsunade looked up, "It's from Konan," she said, holding out the letter, "I don't understand. A four-man squad? It's completely unsuited to the purposes."

Orochimaru took the letter and read over it, handing it back with a glint in his eye. "Konan-sama is shrewd and clever. There must be some meaning in this. Give her what she wants."

"I can't," the Godaime admitted, "not all of it, anyway. She's asking for Kakashi, and Kakashi is needed elsewhere for my own mission. I've already informed him, and asked him to brief our other teammate." She reached up to fiddle with the small pouch held on a string around her neck. Orochimaru's eyes followed her hands.

"How is it?" He asked in that muttering tone he'd always used when the subject veered towards the products of his intellect. "Has it held?"

"Yes," she said, holding the small pouch, "it's fine. Perfect, actually. As long as they're with me, we don't need to worry about them landing anywhere dangerous," Tsunade let the pouch drop, and the cloth that held the small scroll felt almost comforting against her skin.

The former snake sannin was peering at her with sharp curiosity, "are you certain you don't want to transplant it?" The glance he shot at the seal-pouch had a tinge of hunger, even though he'd long grown used to living without the ability to manipulate chakra.

He'd grown used to living at the small apartment beside Hiruzen-sensei, who he reluctantly greeted every morning while he snuck out, and spending tiring hours below the Hokage's building, in the laboratories. To her it was a strange life, but that just how Orochimaru was and how he'd always been. He was adaptable, flexible. Unlike her and Jiraiya's raw passion to never give up, Orochimaru had always snaked around things, found other ways that no one else saw.

"No," she said firmly, righting the chair and pulling a pile of paperwork from the side of the desk. "Things like this that grant power so freely should be kept hidden. I'll pass these on to my successor one day, and hopefully whoever poor soul that ends up being will have enough wisdom to keep them hidden."

He seemed vaguely disappointed, but went back to peering at the seal paper on the desk. It was a single sheet, but lined with so many intricate fuuin symbols that the white was barely visible. Tsunade leaned over to glance at it.

"Are you finished with that? Your month is over, you know," she informed him. One month since their invasion of Ame, and since Nagato's death. One month since she had promised not to allow the confirmation of his existence to spread into the village. But now it was time, and she couldn't hide his name any longer. The similarities his Fushi Tensei took were too close, no one would mistake him for anything but the snake sannin.

"I am finished," he replied between gritted teeth. "But there's only a _good _chance that it will work. It might simply kill her instead."

Tsunade frowned, "will she be harmed if I do something wrong during the activation?"

"No," he admitted, "your chakra control is excellent, there is little possibility of that. I may have drawn the symbols wrong. But I suppose the troublesomeness will be just as gone if she dies, and you'll share the blame."

At this, she smiled, because Orochimaru's likelihood was better than most people's certainty. "I have no doubt that it's perfect," she said. She turned to glance back at the window, which allowed morning light to stream through. "We'll go in the evening. For now, I need to speak with the _chunin-_taichowho just entered the village," she nodded at the anbu guard in the corner.

"I'll take my leave, then," Orochimaru stood up and rolled the seal paper, holding it in one long-fingered hand. He still wore the Konoha jonin uniform, although the lack of flak jacket indicated that he was a paper-pusher in the public eye, and not a shinobi. He silently slipped into the back office, where there was a set of stairs that led all the way down into the laboratories. Tsunade listened to his fading footsteps.

It had been a long month, but she was slowly growing into Hiruzen-sensei's large legacy. The Hokage's office, with the shelves of scrolls on each wall and the large window that revealed Konoha in its entirety, was beginning to look like home. She still stayed with Shizune, although she suspected that would have to move once Gai was released from the hospital. Pity, Shizune's cooking was godly.

She smiled wryly as she considered freeloading off Hiruzen-sensei or Orochimaru, since that would mean more time in office and less time maintaining an apartment. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done that, considering the days after her uncle had died during the war.

Hiruzen-sensei had practically taken the young Senju prodigy into his house and Biwako-san had made it her personal goal to keep her eating three meals a day, even though the two of them were a newly married couple and Tsunade had sat there feeling like an imposer. No, her old sensei would have no problem with that. He was recovering slowly but surely from his injury, although his hand-seal speed would be greatly decreased. He stopped by the academy every day, simply to talk to the children because that was how he was.

Orochimaru would promptly kick her out. There was no empathy with him, the bastard. None, until it came to one particular kunoichi, whose name was replaced with the word 'troublesome' in his mind.

Tsunade tapped her pen against the desk and turned to look out the window, watching Konoha spring to life in the morning. A team led by a certain blond-haired dolt had stopped to unload, and were due to report in soon. But they didn't need to, because her anbu had already gathered information about the status of their mission, and had reported to her earlier.

At this point, she was starting to question if the powerful idiot would _ever _advance. His promotion had already been cancelled twice.

She waited patiently, folding some of the paperwork into crooked paper flowers to pass the time, because actually reading them was out of the question. Orochimaru did most of that for her, his reading speed was otherworldly. She was considering officially dubbing him Konoha's Resident Paperwork Ninja.

It took five more minutes for Uzumaki Naruto to arrive, and by then Tsunade had an entire speech planned out.

She sat at her desk with chin leaned on steepled fingers, watching as Team Naruto filed into the office to stand dejectedly in front of her. "Your mission was a failure," she informed them. "There's really no other way to put it. A complete and utter failure."

Naruto winced. His orange jumpsuit was slightly scuffed from hours of full-speed travel, and the bag he had over his shoulder was empty but for a single piece of red fruit, which he gingerly placed on the desk. Behind him, Sakura and Sasuke were rubbing their faces in their hands. Sai stood by them in silence.

"You," Tsunade began, "are ridiculous. This is one of the rarest species in the Five Countries. Team Naruto, you braved hundreds of Tsuki no Kuni rogue-nin, dangerous lands, and age-old traps in order to retrieve this fruit, known for its incredible taste, and you only bring back _one piece_? What is our client supposed to do with one piece of fruit?"

"Eat it, of course," said Sai, who didn't exactly understand.

"Actually," Sakura coughed, "we collected many more. Enough to fill that bag."

The Godaime raised an eyebrow, "and what happened to the rest?"

Naruto mumbled something under his breath.

"I'm afraid your usual loudness would be particularly fitting right now," she said wryly.

"I ate it," he said, averting his eyes.

There was silence in the office, and the anbu guards in the corner were smacking their heads against the walls with small thumps.

"I was hungry, and they were delicious!" Naruto wailed, "Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme didn't let me stop to eat because they said we needed to get back on time! And this fruit is _really _good!"

Tsunade turned to give the other two apprehensive looks. They both stood awkwardly in the office, looking anywhere but her. Vague memories of Naruto complaining about a growling stomach assaulted them and heightened their guilt.

"Um…sorry Naruto," Sakura said, rubbing her head sheepishly.

"We didn't know you were _that _hungry," Sasuke huffed, "you're always eating."

"I hadn't eaten anything all day!"

"That's your fault for sleeping in again," Sakura mumbled under her breath.

"Nevertheless," Tsunade went on, looking back to the grief-stricken Naruto, "what _is _it with you? You've led three failed missions in the past month, and all for the silliest reasons!" She leaned forwards, "do you know that there's a policy to never let a shinobi led a promotion mission for at least a month after a failed one? I had to argue with the council for days to let you take another, and only because I know you're stronger than most of my jonin."

Naruto brightened a little at the praise.

"-but if you can't even lead a proper mission, maybe you can remain a chunin."

Naruto's head hit the desk. He groaned.

"To be fair," Sai spoke up, "it wasn't entirely Naruto's fault. During those missions, Sakura-san and Sasuke-kun always had a hand in causing the failure."

The two other members of Team Naruto looked distinctly uncomfortable. They glanced around the office nervously, hands in the pockets of their _jonin_ flak jackets.

Tsunade sighed, "yes, Sai, I'm aware of that. That's why I'm going to have _another _long and drawn out argument with the two idiots I call my council members, to give you one more chance. And this time, say goodbye to your current teammates because you clearly need to work with some different people." She waved her hand in a slight gesture of dismissal.

Sai nodded his head and flickered away immediately, while Sasuke shot a lingering glance at the Godaime before turning and leaving the office. Sakura followed him out, giving Naruto guilty looks as she went.

After they were gone, Tsunade opened the drawer beneath her desk and took out the letter that had arrived earlier, the one written in such beautiful calligraphy that even put Orochimaru's hand to shame. It was out of format for a mission request, but detailed exactly what was needed, along with the ridiculously high amount of money that Ame was willing to pay, enough for an S-rank.

It didn't make sense. She'd been offering Konan aid for the past month, but it had never been accepted. She'd been perfectly willing to send over a small army of shinobi to help rebuild the village, knowing full well that such a small village would suffer from their actions. But now an aid request had finally arrived, written in stiff, formal tone and asking for a four-man squad of all things, the smallest number of members in a Konoha jonin team.

More strangely, Konan had requested two of the four to be Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi.

From that alone, it was clear that something was wrong. Asking for Naruto was understandable; his army of clones was a mini-aid team by itself. But Kakashi didn't have any abilities that would help in rebuilding. Why?...

But Tsunade couldn't send him. She had another mission to accomplish, one that she had promised to Hiruzen-sensei. It had taken hours of arguing with her stubborn council, but she had finally gained clearance to leave Hi no Kuni for two weeks time, taking only two shinobi with her as guards. Kakashi was her best jonin, and her council would never agree to send him off to Ame – a country that still had some lingering hostility towards them – without watch.

She slipped the letter out of its marked envelope and placed it on the desk, in front of Naruto. The boy looked curiously down at the paper.

"This is your mission," Tsunade confirmed, seeing that he couldn't read the elaborate script, "you're to provide aid for Ame during its rebuilding, and you've been specifically requested by Konan. The mission itself is only a C-rank, but it'll be classified as an A-rank because of its location. I swear, kid, if you fail this one I'll demote you to genin and you can take the exams with Konohamaru."

Naruto nodded, "I won't, Tsunade baa-chan. It'll be a success, I promise." He looked up curiously, "so if I'm not going to be with Team Seven, then who?..."

"I'll send Yamato with you, his jutsu is useful for building houses and shops," she began. "but there are certain delicate diplomatic matters present here, since this is the first time Ame has permitted foreign shinobi to enter. As such, I'm sending Shikamaru. Hopefully he'll make up for your lack of tact."

Naruto winced, "yeah, yeah, I know…"

"But be careful," she warned, "he's clever, and he may piece together something of what happened last month. Personally, I don't have any reservations against it and he's a trustworthy shinobi of Konoha, but I know how hard you've worked to make sure no one finds out." Tsunade didn't understand why, but he _had _worked hard. He'd worked to quell Sasuke's piecing curiosity and soothe Sakura's suspicions.

"And you need a medic, since that's typical of aid teams," Tsunade went on, "but it has to be a field medic who's skilled with fighting as well, since there are reasons to suspect that aid isn't the only thing Konan is asking for."

"I thought you said I wouldn't be working with Sakura-chan for this one?" he tilted his head to one side, "and there aren't any other field medics at jonin-level apart from Shizune nee-chan, and she's always busy at the hospital."

"Yes, that's why I'm sending a chunin. And I've gone through great pains to make sure it's someone who knows you, and can therefore put up with you."

"Oh, ok. Who?"

"Yamanaka Ino."

Naruto groaned.

* * *

In his apartment, Hatake Kakashi looked out the window of his apartment, Icha Icha in one hand and a kunai twirling aimlessly in the other as he let Tenzo's idle chatter fill the plain room.

The place was quiet, even when Yamato was sitting on the table opposite to him nursing a glass of milk. It was quiet because Naruto was conspicuously absent, and he'd somehow grown used to his student's loud ways. Usually, Gai would be there to fill his activity for the day, but now even he was at the hospital and Naruto hadn't gotten home from his mission.

Tsunade had taken to sending Kakashi on s-ranks recently, along with his anbu kohai. It was a distraction. She knew about his goal, and protested for the simple reason that she didn't want him to die. But Kakashi saw the slight happiness in her eyes whenever she was around both Hiruzen and Orochimaru, and knew that she didn't understand anymore. She'd already succeeded, and she no longer felt the same way towards those who hadn't.

But he took them quietly because he knew the time would come eventually and it was best if he was prepared.

"Are you listening to me, senpai?" Yamato was saying, "I'm officially a jonin of Konoha now. You don't have to come along with me during missions anymore. Now you'll be free to take missions with your students."

Kakashi sighed, "maa, I've grown apart, now. I guess the resilience did happen like Naruto said after all. Before, they went off with one sannin each. I'll just be happy that Sasuke chose Anko instead, this time."

Yamato frowned, "senpai, it's not like you to mope. Your students have become wonderful shinobi. I'm sure they'll always think of you as their sensei, even though Sakura spends all her training with Tsunade-sama … and Naruto is out on missions longer than he's home … and … Sasuke is always with Anko-san … well, you have me."

"Ah, but Tenzo-kun isn't nearly as interesting as my cute students."

"You have this never-ending supply of sympathy for everyone except me," Yamato deadpanned.

Kakashi's eye crinkled into a slight smile, "but I do have a mission with one of them, now. And it's an S-rank, too."

Yamato's curiosity peaked. He set the empty glass of milk aside and leaned forwards, "really? An s-rank so quickly after our last one? With who?"

"Sakura. I'm supposed to be briefing her right now. But she'll arrive eventually," he said, "she lives so far away, now that she moved. Something about her sister wanting the larger room," he grinned slightly under his mask as he remembered how Sakura had come back from their last mission to see that Haruno Saki had decided to move into her room.

She'd been furious for all of three seconds before deciding that Saki's puppy eyes were too cute, and it was about time for her to find her own apartment anyway because Saki's room was too small. Sometimes Kakashi wondered at the pure normality of the other part of her life. But he was proud, because it took strength to escape mediocrity.

"And how will she know that she-"

At that moment, the door of the apartment was flung open, and one pink-haired girl stormed in, holding a brown puppy by the scruff of its neck.

"Kakashi-sensei," she began in a low voice, "what _exactly_ did you ask Pakkun to do?"

"Retrieve you, of course," he replied, smiling. Yamato looked between him and his student curiously.

"He _did _ask me to bite you there to wake you up," the small pug muttered, "it was on orders, I swear."

"Maa, those are things of the past," Kakashi hurried to say, "come in, we have a mission to discuss."

Sakura considered throwing the dog in his face, but he'd already gone into serious mode and she'd missed her chance. She grumbled under her breath while she dropped Pakkun and walked over to sit on the couch gingerly, trying to ignore the fact that there would be bite marks on her butt for the next week. "Fine. What's this S-rank about?"

He slipped a mission sheet out of the pocket of his flak jacket and handed it to her while Yamato looked on. Sakura took it and read over it, eyebrows rising.

"To Kumo?" She gaped, "but…Kumo isn't an ally! This is dangerous!"

"Yes, to Kumo. After seeing the enmity between the countries during his battle with the Tsuchikage's reanimation, Hiruzen-sensei entrusted her with the task of establishing peace between Iwa and Konoha," Kakashi explained. Tsunade yearned for sake more often than she actually did paperwork, but she was a clever Hokage. Despite her predecessor's request, she knew that establishing peace between the three countries wouldn't be easy.

That was why she had decided to start with Kumo, where they had B and Yugito who could sway the Raikage's mind in their favor. Once Konoha and Kumo were allied, Iwa would have no choice but to agree, or risk angering them. Her council had protested at the top of their voices at allowing such a meeting, but she was steadfast in her decision. It had already been decided that the summit would take place in one week, on the Raikage's grounds.

Sakura nodded, "and we're to go with her as guards? I know you're her most experienced jonin, but why me?"

"Well, partly because it's a sign of trust that she's bringing her own student," Kakashi told her, "and it helps that we've worked together before, and that you're familiar with foreign policy. It would've been a greater sign of trust to take the last Uchiha, but Sasuke is like Naruto in that he has no tact whatsoever, and it might have been insulting to take an heir of a great clan after what happened with the Hyuga."

Yamato frowned, "but who will assume her position while she's gone? Two weeks is a long time for a Hokage to be away from the village."

"I don't know," Kakashi said sheepishly, "she never told me. I assume she's had to make some concessions with the council, though. I'm still surprised that she got them to agree. She's truly a force to be feared."

"So all we do is walk into Kaminari?" Sakura asked. "Well, that seems easy enough."

Kakashi considered telling her that no, it wasn't easy, because they _weren't _allied yet and that meant any shinobi in Kumo could attack them, but he decided that would only worry her. "We're going covertly," he said. "We'll be disguised as plain travelers, since the fastest way to get to the summit location is through land, and we don't want to risk being attacked. Get your things ready, we leave early tomorrow morning."

"Ten o'clock, then," Yamato said wryly.

"Yes Tenzo-kun, ten o'clock."

"_Senpai it's Yamat-_"

"I don't like that name," Kakashi replied airily, "you'll be Tenzo-kun in my head."

"Sounds troublesome," Pakkun muttered, leaping onto the couch beside Sakura, "hey, wanna pet my fur? It's real soft, you'll like it," he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Sensei, dismiss your silly dog," Sakura said dryly, "my butt is hurting enough already."

* * *

Yamanaka Ino yawned, and looked blearily across at Naruto, who stood on the other side of the desk in the briefing room. "So … why was I called here at nine o'clock? I need my eight hours of sleep, you know."

"I agree," Shikamaru drawled from beside her, "this is troublesome."

Naruto winced. Well, they weren't going to like hearing that they were leaving first thing in the morning … he cleared his throat loudly, and look around at the two members of team ten and Yamato-senpai. "We have a mission tomorrow."

"Lovely," Yamato nodded, "I suppose you failed your third one, then? And Tsunade-sama pushed to get you another because you still haven't made jonin despite being one of the first chunin in your age group?"

"Oi! It was Sasuke-teme's fault!"

"Hurry up, Naruto. There are clouds that need watching." Shikamaru sighed, slipping into one of the chairs around the desk. The briefing rooms in the jonin headquarters were conspicuously silent, and they were the only team present. A large map of the Five Countries was pinned over one wall, and the room contained a large round table with four chairs. He'd been in it often enough when he was assigned his own teams.

Naruto pulled himself together and crossed his arms over his orange jumpsuit. "Alright, we're going to go help Konan-sama in Ame. The village took some damage from unknown causes last month, and they need help rebuilding their industrial sector so that they can do business and stuff."

Yamato raised an eyebrow, "and Konoha is sending a four-man team for something like this?"

"Hm. Naruto can use his clones to turn us into a small army," Ino declared, pushing her blond ponytail over one shoulder, "and I'm probably going to be using my iryouninjutsu to help the injured, although I won't be too efficient by myself. Yamato-senpai, you have your mokuton jutsu to build stuff with. And Shikamaru…" she sent him a calculating glance, "I'm not sure why you're here, actually."

"Um … he's coming to deal with diplomatic stuff," Naruto told her, "because I'm kind of not too good at-"

"You're as subtle as a kick in the pants, we know," Shikamaru told him, clasping his hands behind his head. "Should be an easy mission, then. Ame has lots of clouds anyway. I probably won't get too bored."

Yamato looked over curiously, "cloud watching _isn't _boring?"

"Of course not," he replied, "it's perfect. All this stuff is too troublesome. I mean, it's nice sometimes, but all I really want to do is live in a little house somewhere that has a nice view of the sky."

"Interesting," Yamato remarked, "I've never met anyone who aspired to mediocrity."

"Yeah, well, here I am."

Ino and Naruto were giving him mirrored looks that clearly indicated that they had no idea what went on in his head. Finally, Naruto cleared his throat again and pulled the mission report out of his pocket.

"The mission length isn't mentioned, so we have to be prepared to stay anywhere between a week and a month. And we have to get this mission done properly. Konan-sama of Ame is paying us two million ryo."

Yamato's eyebrows rose, "that's S-rank pay, Naruto. That can't be right. Is she expecting to be attacked?"

"Maybe it has something to do with what happened last month, when the disturbances in Ame were first noted. There's a possibility that one of Konoha's enemies attacked, making this dangerous for us," Shikamaru answered, his tone slightly deeper.

"No, no, it can't be like that! Hehe," Naruto rushed to wave his arms in denial, "it's probably just an inside thing. No need to assume things, right, Ino-chan?"

"Hmph. I think Shikamaru's onto something," she said, rubbing her chin, "that may indicate why _I'm _here, instead of a team of normal medics."

At this point, Naruto was starting to sweat slightly. Great, they were already suspicious. How on earth was he going to last the entire mission? He'd already groaned enough when he heard Ino was on the team. She was nice sometimes, but she wasn't lazy like Shikamaru and she actually put her occasional cleverness to action.

Luckily, Yamato came to his rescue. "Naruto's right," he said, "we actually do know what happened last month, although it's classified information. But to soothe your fears, we won't be attacked by any other countries. Konan-sama probably just isn't familiar with our pay system, since this is the first time Ame has ever allowed foreign shinobi to enter."

Hearing that, the two former members of team ten relaxed slightly.

"Well, it sounds fun," Ino commented, leaning back in her chair. "I mean, maybe they've got some really interesting foreign foods. Chouji's always been asking for those special consomme flavored chips that you can only find abroad."

"Yeah," Shikamaru drawled, "and then you complain about his weight."

"I do not! He's fat for his jutsu!"

"Don't say that around him."

"Hmph, I know that!" Ino tossed her hair.

Naruto watched them bicker and felt the worry drain. He turned to give Yamato a wide grin. He was really useful sometimes. "Ok!" He announced brightly, "Team Naruto, we start tomorrow morning at six! Pack your iryounin stuff and your solider pills and … whatever you pack, Shikamaru."

"Six?" Ino's mouth dropped, "and you called us here at _eight_? I need two hours to get ready in the morning, how am I going to get my eight hours of sleep?!"

"Well if you run home, you might make it," Shikamaru suggested, raising a hand. He watched in slight amusement as she ran out of the room, leaving a trail of flowery-scented perfume behind. He turned back, "Naruto, you're the luckiest guy ever, to get a promotion mission as easy as this."

"I know," Naruto grinned, because he did. Tsunade baa-chan had been working rather hard to get him promoted, since somewhere inside that jaded heart she really did want to see him become Hokage one day. Bad luck had gotten in his way until now, but he wasn't about to mess up this chance. Yamato-senpai and Shikamaru were already experienced jonin, and Ino wouldn't do anything to ruin the mission.

He'd come back as a jonin and boast to Sasuke and Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Hours later, Konoha had long grown dark. One particular apartment in the jonin compound still had its lights on, just like it did every Thursday evening.

"Checkmate."

Sasuke frowned deeply as he look down at the Shogi board, and at Anko's finger, which was tapping at his King. He cursed silently under his breath for having missed the trap. It was such a simple one, but she had a way of slipping by him when he was focused.

"Gotta watch your defenses, kid," Anko told him, sitting back in her chair, "but you're getting better. I actually had to try, this time." She smiled with a tinge of pride, because it was true.

"Ch. I'll win next time," he told her. He reached over to begin pushing the Shogi pieces back into their case. Anko-sensei was strange. Her handwriting was terrible and her grammar was worse, but when it came to numbers and logic she always came out on top. But she'd been a prodigy in her youth, before Orochimaru had marked her and left.

They didn't talk about revenge anymore, since his had been reluctantly pushed onto him and hers was unfulfilled. He still saw the indignant fire in her eyes every time anything related to Orochimaru was brought up, but it wasn't like it had been before.

It was no longer a passionate hatred that enveloped her, but more of a silent loathing that lingered at the back of her mind. Because she was reaching the prime of her shinobi career, and her curse mark was a constant reminder on every s-rank mission that she could never explore her own potential. That she could never become a normal jonin.

It hurt more than ever, and she'd taken to not caring and pushing herself anyway because she had been chosen by Orochimaru as a child, and the notion of being a skilled shinobi was too deeply ingrained in her mind. She took s-ranks and used advanced katon jutsu and summoned Manda as casually as he once did, pushing the searing pain in her shoulder to the back of her mind.

Sasuke felt a hinge at the back of his throat whenever he saw her like that, because he _knew _and he wasn't allowed to _say _and he was almost afraid of how she would react.

"Anko-sensei, pass me that pawn that slid off the table."

"Sure, kid."

The apartment was enveloped in conformable silence once more, disrupted only by the clink of Shogi pieces and the tapping of Anko's empty dango stick as she watched.

She didn't know why the he spent so much time with her. Uchiha Sasuke was solitary by nature, but the blond dolt and the pink haired brat were always there to bother him. Sometimes the Hyuga boy would invite him over for tea at their clan compound along with his shy cousin-sister, and Sasuke would grudgingly accept and end up reluctantly enjoying it. Other times the Yamanaka girl would pester him while her teammates pried her away.

But he always ended up unfailingly at her apartment at least three days a week, carrying his Shogi board under one arm, or holding some scrolls he wanted to interpret with her help.

Anko never protested. And she was making a conscious effort to stop referring to him as a 'kid', because he sure wasn't. The fact that he was top-quality eye-candy never hurt either.

"So," she began, "how's your bird doing?"

"It's gone away again," Sasuke replied, folding up the board. "It'll come back in two days."

"Two days?" She watched him slip the board and piece-case into his bag. "Does it tell you, or something?" She asked teasingly.

"It checks for me every four days, in the morning," he replied, "If I'm there it'll stay and try to eat me. If I'm not it'll go away and try again four days later."

Anko raised an eyebrow; "you have such weird choice in pets. Why do you even keep that thing?"

Sasuke felt an answer on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to shout the truth to all of Konoha, to clean his brother's tarnished name. But he knew that he couldn't, and kept silent. He shrugged, "it's not so bad. I've started giving it raw meat, and it doesn't try to bite my fingers anymore unless it's very hungry."

"A crow," she trailed, "I've always wanted a puppy, actually. But there's no time to take care of it between missions. Bring the bird over sometime, maybe we can train it."

Sasuke gave her a wry smile, "it can't be trained, Anko-sensei. It's a wild crow. Housebreaking it would be meaningless."

She shrugged, "ah well. I suppose I can always visit the Inuzuka compound sometime. They're pretty friendly to people who like dogs. Have you named it?"

"Yatagarasu."

"Strange name for a bird," Anko commented.

_Aniki named it. _"It's just something I saw in a scroll once. Probably the name of someone just as bloodthirsty as it is." Sasuke stood up with the bag over one shoulder, "I'll be going now. It's growing dark."

"Want an escort home?" She smirked, "some might think you're too pretty to be walking alone at night."

He shot an amused glance back at her, and Sharingan red flashed briefly in his eyes. "I'll take care of myself, Anko-sensei." With that he left the sitting room of the small place and went to the front door, which led out of the compound.

His hand paused just as it touched the doorknob, and he stilled. It was turning under his fingers. Sasuke stepped back from the door and watched as it opened.

Two figures stood outside, framed by the darkening night. One was the Godaime Hokage, who had her hand extended and was pushing the door open. She was wearing her Hokage robes over the green haori, loosely draped around her shoulders. The wide-brimmed hat was also placed on her head, even though she'd refused to touch it for a good week after becoming Hokage.

Tsunade sighed when she saw the Uchiha boy standing on the other side of the door. She'd forgotten to account for Anko having visitors. Beside her, Orochimaru stiffened at Sasuke's narrowed eyes.

"What do you want?" Sasuke hissed.

She stepped forward, deciding to make it quick. "we're here for Anko."

Sasuke looked almost torn between protecting his sensei and obeying his Hokage. Seeing that, Tsunade sighed again.

"We're not here to harm her. The opposite, actually."

He didn't move out of the way. "How do I know that when _he's _here, the one you issued a secrecy order to protect? Tsunade-sama, he may have turned sides again for you, but to Anko-sensei he's still-"

"Move, Uchiha," Orochimaru said, watching him with distinctly purple-lined eyes. "I know my troublesome student better than you do."

Sasuke seemed to take offense. Instead of moving, he stepped forward, shooting one brief glance back at the light that leaked dimly out of the sitting room where Anko was. His eyes widened when he saw a shadow in the light.

"Sasuke? Who's at the door-" Anko froze when she saw the visitors.

For a while there was silence in the short hallway, with the two sannin at one end and Mitarashi Anko at the other. Tsunade laid a firm hand on Sasuke's shoulder, gently pushing him aside. Orochimaru followed her down, a tightly rolled-up sheet of seal paper held tightly between long fingers.

"So it's true," Anko stated, her voice growing slightly lower. "The rumors in the bars are true. You really did issue an order to hide _his_ return." She watched as they walked towards her, and her hand itched to reach for the kunai hidden in her shirt.

"Well, I suppose that even shinobi tongues slip when sake is involved," Tsunade muttered. "But it was the best I could do. He had a good reason, after all."

"Bars?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, "I thought you hated sake?"

"Yeah, well it's useful sometimes," she seethed. Now that she had someone to drag her back, nothing stopped her. "Why are you here?"

He stood at the entrance of the sitting room, looking around at the small place that he'd forgotten to observe before in his haste to leave. His lips twitched upwards at the dartboards covered in pictures of faces torn apart with holes made by senbon. Yes, Anko hadn't changed one bit.

"Get out," she said coldly, "I don't care if Tsunade-sama brought you back. You betrayed us and you'll probably do anything to leave again."

"I only wish that were true," Orochimaru said dryly. He brought up the roll of seal-paper, undoing the small clasp.

Sasuke stood silently by the entrance behind the Hokage, wondering what to do. He could see Anko glancing around for ideas on how to attack, although she knew she wouldn't be able to match Tsunade-sama. But if she asked, Sasuke knew he would help her, even if he lost. Because he was loyal to Konoha, and Konoha was the dobe and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and it was Anko-sensei too. He decided to wait.

The former snake sannin slipped the clasp into his pocket and opened the scroll. The crinkle of the sheet was incredibly loud in the quiet room. He held it by one end, revealing a circular arrangement of symbols. "It's best if we do this quickly, Tsunade."

She nodded, the brim of her Hokage hat casting a shadow over her face. "Fine. I'm ready."

"Good," he said, "Anko, turn around."

For a while, Anko stood there in silence. Sasuke wondered what was happening, but she was just starting to understand and a tendril of hope was springing up. Slowly, hesitantly, she turned and loosened her coat, revealing the three tomoe on her shoulder.

Orochimaru spread the seal over her shoulder, with the centre positioned over the tomoe, "Tsunade, do it now. And _try _not to put too much chakra into it. It might obstruct her tenketsu altogether. Anko, you should keep in mind that if something goes wrong, you have only your idiot Hokage to blame."

Anko remained silent. From where he watched in the doorway, Sasuke could make out the slight shaking of her shoulders.

Tsunade nodded, and a small smile tugged at her lips. With that, she positioned her hands over the seal and began to channel chakra the way her grandfather had taught her. She was partly an Uzumaki, after all, and fuuinjutsu was in her blood. Orochimaru's skills were far beyond hers and maybe even beyond those of Jiraiya, but she could do this.

The room was silent for many long minutes, and Anko bit her lip and tried to ignore the strange sensations that spread through her arm. They brought back clear memories of a cold stone floor in Umi no Kuni, and of four isles that she had proudly named while a jonin of Konoha stood next to her. The sensation reminded her clearly of memories she'd regained six years ago, of Orochimaru-sensei's snake-like teeth digging into her shoulder.

"It's done, stop," Orochimaru ordered. He pulled the seal away from Tsunade's hands, and inspected the clear skin on Anko's shoulder, pressing one long finger over the area where the tomoe had been. She turned around, looking at him with wide eyes.

"It's still there, but faded," he observed, "it might take a while to disappear completely. Actually, I may not completely go at all, we'll have to note its progress for a week or so. If it's still there, then maybe I can change the base symbols to – Anko – let go of me, that's making it hard to breathe-"

Sasuke's eyebrows were furrowed when Tsunade stepped back to stand by him. He watched the two curiously, and turned to the Hokage, whose smile was visible under the brim of her hat.

"Tsunade-sama, he reversed the seal? But …" _Why on earth would she forgive him so easily?_ It didn't make sense. He thought he _knew _Anko-sensei, and Anko-sensei held grudges like no one else.

"I didn't expect anything else," she told him softly, "the bond between student and sensei is deeper than you think, Sasuke."

* * *

Under Ame's downpour, Konan stood at the edge of the lake. The citizens and even the jonin of her council had long started to leave her alone. That was good. They needed to learn to be independent.

She looked to the west, and imagined the expanse of trees that were beyond the cold grey buildings of Ame.

_Hurry, _she thought._ I don't have much time left._


	3. Shimura Danzo

**Chapter 2 – Shimura Danzo**

* * *

It was early the next morning, and the atmosphere felt disproportionately happy when contrasted with the black stone of the memorial. Kakashi stood there timing the magnitude of his lateness by the position of the sun, and occasionally glancing towards a name carved onto the surface of the cenotaph.

"Rin, exactly that amount of time has passed. He's back," he paused, and looked down at the wet grass below his feet. "It's starting, and I haven't even figured out what I'm supposed to do. I don't know if I'll be in the right place at the right time. I don't know if he'll think to listen, in the state he is. I don't know if he'll even think twice. But you don't need to worry, because I'll keep that promise."

He saw her smile in his mind.

* * *

When the former Sandaime Hokage heard a knock on his door, he opened it to see his student standing there, biting her lip in worry. She was no longer wearing her Hokage robes. They had been folded neatly into Sakura's pack.

"Ah, Tsunade. What brings you here so early? I thought you had a mission?" He stepped aside to let her into the place and closed the sliding door behind her. "Tea will be ready in a few minutes."

She settled down in one of the chairs by the breakfast table, looking out at the wide window that had its curtains spread open. Outside was a distant view of the back of the academy, where the children would play during their break and after classes. It was a typical house for an old man. But she didn't have time for small talk, she had an important issue to discuss. Her brow was furrowed when she turned back.

"I'm not here for tea. My mission starts in ten minutes."

"Oh?" He placed the walking stick he'd taken to using by the table, and sat down in a chair opposite to her.

"I'm here for advice."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even though he'd been willing to offer her aid, she'd never once come to seek him out in the month that she'd been Hokage, instead stubbornly deciding to figure it all out by herself. "That certainly is strange. Where's the headstrong Tsunade who wanted to do everything on her own?"

"This is different," she told him, frowning, "I wouldn't risk Konoha for my pride, and you're the only one who can advise me on this."

"Alright then," he drummed his fingers on the table. "What would you like advice on?"

"Danzo." She spat the name out as if it was poisonous.

He frowned, "he's been giving you trouble?"

"Not exactly," Tsunade said in an irritated tone. "He's been doing nothing, actually. Your old teammates are easy enough to put up with, but I expected him to be more troublesome. But for some reason, he's barely spoken during all of our meetings, and I remember you complaining that he was pretty vocal. But now…" She muttered under her breath, "it was one of the conditions for them allowing me to go."

"What was?" Hiruzen didn't completely understand. Shimura Danzo was a little rough around the edges, but he had long been a trusted friend. He'd known the man since childhood, and though it wasn't exactly friendship that they had, they understood each other to a certain extent.

"He's going to take over while I'm away," she clarified. "That Homura was the one who suggested it, and it was so…sudden. I was certain that he was going to offer to assume the position himself; he was on the verge of saying it. But suddenly he proposed that Danzo take it. I couldn't say anything during the meeting, but I'm suspicious of him. You see, I've discovered certain…activities of his."

"Ah, Root," Hiruzen nodded. "I ordered it disbanded years ago, but I'm aware he still keeps it. It's difficult to persuade him otherwise, I've tried."

Tsunade turned to glance at him worriedly, "it's inhumane, what he's doing. But I'm fully aware that it's not easily reversible. I've been doing all I can to lower the recruitment."

She had. Only five days ago, a member of her trusted anbu guard had delivered information that Danzo was planning on approaching a young member of the Inuzuka clan whose inborn sense of smell rivaled that of his ninken companion. She'd ordered the little boy to be specially trained and admitted to an apprenticeship in order to spare him the fate of Danzo's rule. It was hard, keeping such a wide span over the village. To everyone in the tower – even to Shizune – she was as irresponsible as the Yondaime had once been, fooling around and skipping her paperwork. But this was a task she'd taken on with an iron hand, because she would _not _allow the lives of her shinobi to be made use of.

Her former sensei smiled in approval, "good. It's not easy to deal with something like that. He can be a handful sometimes, I'm aware."

There was silence between them, punctuated by the chirps of morning birds that came in through the open window. Minutes were passing quickly until the time she would have to meet with the Raikage.

"Should I go?" She finally burst out. "Is it really safe to leave Konoha in his hands for two weeks – or even a month, if things don't go well? I have a bad feeling about this, sensei. I _will _fulfill your request, but isn't there a less dangerous way to go about this?"

He gave her a warm smile. "Don't be so worried, Tsunade. Danzo is ultimately loyal to Konoha and he'll never do anything to damage it too much, I know him well. Besides, there are many capable shinobi here, and a former Hokage has more power than a temporary one. You can defeat him in battle if he ever goes so far, though I doubt he will."

She nodded, "I've told my personal anbu guard to take orders only from Shizune while I'm away, but they are only three people, and the rest will follow _him_…" She sighed. "Never mind. I'm being paranoid."

Hiruzen gave her an amused look. "That's a good quality in a Hokage. Now, shouldn't you be starting on your mission?"

Tsunade rubbed her chin in consideration. "Actually, I'll stay for tea; the next week will probably prove to be troublesome. Kakashi will be late anyway, and Sakura's long grown used to waiting for her mentors."

"Has she?" He chuckled. "That poor student of yours…"

Tea took up another half an hour. They talked about things like her sensei's idea of becoming a teacher at the academy, since he'd always loved children and had no idea how to go about a retired life any other way. She inputted her own laughs about Gai's latest attempted escape from the hospital, and how Shizune had dragged him back. Once or twice, Jiraiya's name came up. But they only talked about the positive things when it came to him. No matter how much of an honorable death he'd died, no sensei wanted to outlive their student.

By the time their cups were empty and she left, Konoha's morning had settled down and the bell of morning academy classes reached the small house. She saw Kakashi strolling down the streets of Konoha, orange book in one hand, and came to walk beside him. He gave her a small wave.

"So, I'm as late as the Copy-Nin," she remarked. "This is new."

"Maa, and I thought I'd left my student in good hands," Kakashi chuckled, putting the book back into his pocket. He saw the way her eyes averted from it, and knew that it wasn't because of its content.

"Hmm. Well, I wouldn't give her up for anything. Her birthday was last week. Do you know she can legally buy sake now?"

Kakashi didn't. He didn't think that was very good news for Konoha either.

They saw the gates of the village, and the small figure slumped with her back to it and her arms around her knees. The two guards Izumo and Kotetsu were watching her warily from inside their small cabin. She seemed to be quietly seething. That didn't look good.

"Kakashi." Tsunade's voice held a tinge of command, and he stopped. "Listen, there is someone who does not approve of this meeting, and this person has the influence to cause trouble. Be wary."

He nodded sharply. He was always wary. The stiffness in his shoulders had been ever present for the past month and he doubted it would ever go away.

Sakura looked furious when they arrived. She sat up, brushed off her red vest, and proceeded to glare at them. "Shishou! Kakashi-sensei! You're both over an _hour_ late!"

"I was talking with Hiruzen-sensei about Jiraiya."

"I was visiting an old teammate of mine."

At that, she faltered. They felt slightly bad for guilt-tripping her, but it was comical how quickly she changed once she heard the names. Naruto was right; she could be a real sap sometimes.

"Um, ok," Sakura squeaked, clutching the strap of her travel bag. "That's … that's fine. I understand."

Kakashi smiled at her sudden hesitance, "well, I hope you're ready. Acting as a personal guard for the Hokage isn't the type of mission that a new jonin usually gets."

At that, she grinned, "well, I've been improving, Kakashi-sensei. Maybe I'll get the chance to show you soon. Let's go, then." She swung on the pack that contained Tsunade's and her things, and set out ahead of them, waving to the two chunin at the gates as she went.

"So that's all it takes?" One of them whistled. "A sob story, and she turns into a pushover?"

"The secret of Haruno Sakura, unveiled," the other commented. "Well, good luck with your meeting, Godaime-sama."

"Thanks," Tsunade mentally browsed through the records she'd memorized, and felt a tinge of satisfaction when she managed to recognize them. "Izumo. Kotetsu."

* * *

"Ino, Shikamaru, Yamato-senpai, we'll rest here," Naruto called behind him. Almost immediately, the three members of his team dropped to the ground. Yamato busied himself finding a clearing to sit in while the other two followed.

Ame was still a day's travel away. They'd left early that morning after Shikamaru and dragged Ino and her beauty sleep right out of bed, and had made three hours of travel. Around them was the lush Hi no Kuni forest, which had yet to transition into the swampland outside Amegakure. They were soon settled on a bank by the river they followed, digging into their packs for ration bars.

After she'd carefully eaten half a bar – complaining about calories the entire time – Ino leaned forward to look at Naruto with interest. "So? How'd it happen?"

Naruto peered back. "How'd what happen?" He asked with his mouth full of food.

She wrinkled her nose. "How'd you fail three missions? I mean, even _you_ can't be that bad. Tsunade-sama went so easy on you. And Shikamaru here thinks you're actually pretty strong."

"He is," Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

Yamato looked on silently. The Nara boy had been eyeing their taichou through the entire trip, as if he'd already sensed that something was wrong. He was perceptive, it was true, but if he was as good as their Hokage had said, he would also pose problems.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly, "um … it wasn't exactly my fault … it was kind of my teammates' faul-"

"So you're gonna blame everything on Forehead?" Ino rubbed her hands in glee. "_This _I'd like to hear!"

"No," he sighed, "Sakura-chan was just part of it. It was bad luck, really." He crossed his legs over the rough grass. "The first mission went pretty smoothly in the beginning. Some rogue-nin had stolen a small bejeweled statue belonging to the daimyo and we were supposed to get it back."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "a typical A-rank. You couldn't find the statue?"

"No. We actually infiltrated the rogue-nin base and found the statue," he explained. "On the way back to Konoha, Sakura-chan and Sasuke got into an argument about something really silly. _Really _silly. And they get _really _serious about their arguments, you know."

Yamato nodded, knowing. A furious Haruno and a sadistic Uchiha made a formidable pair. They'd hold each other's backs expertly when it came to battle and they were good friends on a typical day, but sometimes …

"So Sakura-chan kind of … threw the statue at him. And he refused to catch it. So it broke. And the client refused to pay us," he finished.

For a moment, there was just stunned silence. Then Ino burst out into laughter, and even Shikamaru was trying not to snicker. Yamato leaned back against his log. He'd heard the story before.

She took a while to calm down, and wiped tears from her eyes, "that," she stated, "is hilarious. Forehead even gets mad at _Sasuke-kun_?"

"Yeah. But he actually gets mad more often." Sasuke's anger was a strange anger. He didn't have the type of red-in-the-face fury that Sakura and Naruto had, but he'd suddenly turn all sharp-worded and narrow-eyed and he became a pain to put up with. The sadism he'd inherited from Anko played its part as well.

They were a slightly dysfunctional team, now that he thought of it. Sai's persistent lack of a personality and his dependence on his books tinged everything with his very own personal touch of awkward. Sakura's split personality almost made up for Sai's lack of one, with the way she turned so quickly from kind to furious. Sasuke's utter stubbornness was infuriating, along with his meteor-sized ego. Naruto stubbornly refused to acknowledge his own faults.

But there was a reason they functioned so well together in battle. Sai studied whatever books he had for hours no matter how little they helped, all for the purpose of being a better friend to them. Sakura would tear their enemies apart barehanded before letting any of them die. Sasuke's stubbornness was ingrained in the loyalty he held towards them, and they couldn't accept one without the other. Naruto wouldn't give up Team Seven for all the powerful shinobi in the five countries.

"So?" Shikamaru added, "what about the second mission you failed? Did they get into another argument?"

"No, that was when Sasuke decided to test a certain ability of his Sharingan. While we were on our recon mission. It gave our location away and we had to run."

The black flames of Amaterasu had alerted everyone with a good scope to their position. Naruto was happy for him, he honestly was. And Sasuke had seemed so pleased with himself after finally figuring out how to use it. But _maybe _he could have waited until they were _not _on an A-ranked mission. Or in the middle of a forest. They'd run all the way back to Konoha with their tails between their legs and Tsunade had been furious.

At Naruto. Because he was the mission leader.

Yamato winced, "you really had a lot of bad luck, didn't you?"

"Maybe Godaime-sama should stop sending them on Retrieval and Recon missions," Shikamaru suggested. "She should give them a search-and-destroy mission, since open fighting seems to be one of the few things that Team Seven's actually good at."

"Oi! That was uncalled for!" Naruto protested. Team Seven functioned well all around … whenever Kakashi was with them. Somehow, their sensei lowered the collateral damage by leagues. One sorrowful look would make Sakura calm down, and he had a strange sort of understanding with Sasuke that few others could develop.

"-But this should go well," Shikamaru went on. "No Sasuke to annoy the hell out of us, and no Sakura to yell our ears off."

"And no Sai to check out …" Ino added dejectedly, crossing her arms.

"We don't want to know about that, Ino," her teammate said calmly. "We really don't."

Yamato gave them both amused looks, and then stood up. They were scheduled to be in Ame by the end of the day, and that was a good ten hours of low-speed travel. Seeing his nod, Naruto stood up as well. "Alright," he instructed. "Break's over. We'll go for another four hours before lunch."

Ino groaned about twigs in her hair and Shikamaru muttered about how troublesome it was, but they both stood up to heed their taicho's words.

They set off at a decent speed. It was risky to travel too fast on rogue-nin land, since they had to be prepared to stop and defend against attacks. Naruto took the back in their formation while Ino and Shikamaru went up front. After fifteen minutes, he noticed that Yamato, who was directly behind the other two, was slowing down, breaking formation slightly by indicating that he wanted to speak.

Naruto sped up slightly, settling on the same branch as the older man. They synchronized their speeds until they could talk. From far ahead, Shikamaru threw an interested glance over his shoulder but made no move to interrupt them.

"Yamato-senpai?" He asked.

"I wanted to ask you something," Yamato whispered. "It's about the mission, and Konan." His voice was low.

"What is it?" Naruto frowned.

"I'm confused, and it's suspicious. Has Tsunade-sama told you anything about why she's asked for this mission? And why you're here to lead it specifically?" The unanswered question rang clear: _does this have to do with what happened last month?_

Naruto nodded, "Tsunade baa-chan doesn't know what it is, but she has suspicions too. She just told me to be careful."

"Konan was an Akatsuki member, wasn't she?" Yamato asked. "What if she's drawing us in? According to your timings, the future seal-activator should have returned by now. That means there is another Obito in the present world."

The Obito that had returned would have no recollection of anything that had happened since he'd activated the seal, but that alone would make him formidable. He still had the power of the Jinchuuriki he'd captured, along with whoever had managed to survive within the Akatsuki.

But he wouldn't have Konan. Konan was loyal only to Nagato, and she wouldn't think twice to remain loyal to the side he'd chosen at the very end.

Naruto shook his head. "In my time, Konan nee-chan was probably killed by him. She stood against him just like Nagato did. She'd never join Obito."

"Then … why?"

"I don't know," he said with a hint of grimness. "But I won't let anything happen to my team, Yamato-senpai. If Obito arrives, Kurama and I will fight him off ourselves."

* * *

"Shishou," Sakura began sternly, "tell me the truth, are we stopping here just so you can buy sake now that no one knows who you are?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

After a morning of quiet but swift travel, they had arrived in the post town of Suikazura, slightly northeast of Hi no Kuni. It was an empty place, with only the occasional civilian milling about. But down the main street, there were cheery voices emanating from inside the shops and restaurants, speaking in dialects that seemed to be a mix of those from Hi and Kaminari.

In their lack of shinobi gear, the three of them blended easily into the background of the post town. Kakashi had grudgingly donned a blue scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face to hide his mask, and a strip of cloth to replace his hitai-ite over his eye. Although the owner of the yakitori place they were sitting in seem to consider him more than a little suspicious.

Tsunade waved a hand, "of course not. I've been here with Yugito before, their sake is like water, its not worth it. I'm just here because I'm hungry, and I can't survive on ration bars like you two. Back when I was a jonin we had actual rice crackers to take with us. There have been budget cuts since then."

The small place was nearly empty, except for a young couple sitting at a table a distance away, and the owner, who was standing behind the desk counting coins. It was doubtful that their food would arrive anytime soon, with the pace the servers were working at.

"More importantly," her tone lowered slightly. "I have to inform you about two things, Kakashi. And I'm quite sure you're already aware of the first."

He nodded, "someone is following us."

There was silence at the table, before Sakura burst out in harsh whisper. "What!? But … I didn't sense anyone!"

"Well, our tail hides his tracks well," Tsunade told her. "but Kakashi is a tracker-type and he can catch something even at this level."

She frowned, "but you're not a tracker-type at all, shishou!"

"I'm the Hokage," Tsunade waved a hand dismissively. Her eyes darkened when she turned back to the other jonin. "Have you managed to sense who this is?"

Kakashi shook his head. "He was keeping a considerable distance, it was all I could do to figure out that he was there. From that distance, he wouldn't be able to sense us at all. I suspect he's watching us either from the sky or from underground."

"Could it be a Hyuuga?" Sakura spoke up, shooting glanced outside the windows of the small yakitori place. "Shishou doesn't yet have the full support of their clan, does she?"

"She doesn't, but it's probably not," he replied. "Even the best Hyuuga can only see a certain distance with their Byakugan, and this person is tailing from much farther. Even Pakkun wouldn't be able to sniff his identify, although summoning him would alert our tracker that we know he's there."

"Will this person try to attack us?"

"Unlikely," Tsunade said. "If his tracking abilities are this high, then he's probably not much of a fighter. I suspect maybe a special jonin with a specialization in tracking, or an anbu operative. I wouldn't put it past my my council members to send someone to spy on me."

Kakashi nodded, "that sounds right. I'll continue to keep an eye on this person and alert you if he poses any danger." His eye narrowed, "what is the second thing you were going to tell me?"

Tsunade sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Konan wanted you on that mission that I sent Naruto on. I refused, but the decision has been plaguing me."

Sakura frowned, "the one from the leader of Ame? Why would Ame need Kakashi-sensei?"

Across from her, Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Tsunade-sama, wouldn't something like that be more … important?"

"Yes, yes it would be," she said. "But Sakura is right, there's no reason to explain why she needs you. I didn't have anything to persuade the council with, and I'd already played my hand in getting Naruto his mission and getting myself permission to leave Konoha, even with such a small guard."

"I don't get it," Sakura looked from her sensei to her shishou. "What are you talking about, shishou? Why is sending Kakashi-sensei to Ame more important?"

The two of them gave her a considering look, but Tsunade finally looked to Kakashi to make the decision of whether she would be told. The first thought that sprung to Kakashi's mind was _no._ This was Naruto's decision, and only Naruto could make it.

At first, he'd been skeptical of why his student had wanted to keep things silent from his other teammates, but the understanding had quickly caught up with him. It wasn't because he didn't trust them, or that he thought they would alienate him if they discovered his power. No, Sakura would only be too fascinated by the seal, and Sasuke would be more interested by the Kyuubi's cooperation. It was because he had wanted to start over with them, to make them think he was just another person they could be themselves around.

After all, discovering that a friend had known her six years longer than she had known him … it would be a strange thought, and probably not a pleasant one. Kakashi remembered the sense of hesitation, of confusion, of constantly reminding himself that the yellow-haired, twelve-year-old boy Sandaime-sama had instructed him to teach was actually a sage-level shinobi. It was disorienting, and it had taken time before he'd been able to act naturally around someone who seemed to know him without ever interacting with him.

"It's classified, Sakura," he told her, smiling under his scarf. "It has something to do with Obito, and we can't reveal anything at this time." That would do it.

Immediately after hearing the name, her sob-story-senses kicked in and she gave him a mournful look. The image of her sensei maskless wasn't something that would ever leave her mind. "Oh. Ok. I won't ask, then." The curiosity burned, but she held it down. When the server arrived with her plate, she concentrated on eating it slowly, pretending that she wasn't listening.

Tsunade turned back to him as her own plate was laid down in front of her, "I just wanted you to keep that in mind, because I've instructed Yamato to contact me immediately if anything happens. You may have to leave on short notice."

Kakashi nodded, and then paused. "But what about you, Tsunade-sama? You've already said that this mission has its risks and it would be unwise to leave the Hokage without a guard." He shot a look towards Sakura, "and I'm aware that she is a capable medic and can act as support for the two of us if we are attacked, but the laws you put out will prevent her from fighting, even if I'm away."

Sakura coughed discreetly.

The Godaime shrugged, "bah, who needs a guard? I'm the Hokage, I _am _my guard." Then she burst into a grin, "and on the unlikely chance that I'll need any help, our student here can fight."

* * *

From behind the edge of the apartment compound, Shimura Danzo stood waiting. His walking stick was leaned against the building, and the late noon light highlighted its every crack.

He waited for the Uchiha prodigy, the one who had recently taken to proving himself as antisocial as possible. The boy had been invited to every national event where the upper clans had been present, in an effort to urge him out and hopefully steer him towards more political leanings. Danzo had supported this – after all, the boy was a budding influential figure in the village, with his history and his growing abilities. Completing S-ranks at the age of sixteen wasn't something to be taken lightly.

But lately the root operatives who had been assigned to keep an eye on him had been reporting strange things about his whereabouts. Uchiha Sasuke had been spending time in the shinobi research libraries, a place he'd never taken to visiting before. And a lifetime of learning to develop suspicion had allowed Danzo to guess exactly what he was searching for.

He couldn't be allowed to find it. More importantly, there was …

He slipped further behind the brick when Sasuke came into view, walking towards his apartment with a basket of tomatoes in one hand. The boy stopped before his door and took out a key, but before he could open it a large cawing sound tore through the air. He watched as Sasuke turned sharply with slightly narrowed eyes, before relaxing at the sight of a large black bird which came to land on his arm.

It opened one eye, revealing its red iris. Danzo frowned when he saw it, he had tried to investigate it further but it never responded to anyone else but its Uchiha owner.

For a while Sasuke glared at it while it bit at his fingers, but he eventually sighed and reached into the bottom of the basket, drawing out another, smaller plastic bag. He slipped it open and pulled out a slice of raw meat, holding it out and allowing the crow to eat it from his hands. The look in his eyes gradually grew softer as he watched it. After a little while, he maneuvered the basket onto his arm and opened the apartment door with his other hand, taking the bird inside with him.

Danzo slipped back behind the building and flickered away.

* * *

After stopping in Sugi no Sato, it took until late evening to arrive in the lands around Ame. The four of them held their soaking wet travel cloaks above their heads to shield them from the rain as the village's gates opened.

"This is terrible!" Ino complained, pulling the cloth tightly over her blond hair. "Were those textbooks serious when they said it _never _stops raining in this place?" Her cloak was doing absolutely nothing to prevent her from looking like a drowned rat. Nearby, Yamato sighed.

Naruto nodded cheerfully. "Yup! It's kind of cool when you think about it. I mean, where do the clouds get all their water from? There aren't any oceans nearby."

"I'm sure you can figure that out by yourself," she seethed. "We're in a damn marsh, idiot."

Shikamaru turned back to their taichou. "So, this is the first time this village has ever allowed foreign shinobi to enter, is it?"

"Yeah," Naruto told him, "ever since it became known as Amegakure. Before that only the civilians could get in, and only if they had a trade license." He glanced towards Yamato, who was clearly remembering worse days.

When the gates creaked open far enough for them to look through, they saw a group of Ame shinobi standing by the guardhouse inside, all wearing large hoods that kept the rain out of their eyes. At their head was a tall man with his Ame hitai-ite worn around his neck. He watched warily as they filtered through into the raining village.

Shikamaru went in first, with Ino beside him. "We're the shinobi team from Konoha, reporting for an aid mission that was ordered by your leader," he reported. "Do we get to come in?"

"We've been travelling for almost seven hours," Ino added. "So somewhere to sleep would be nice before we begin our mission."

The man nodded, "we've been instructed to receive you. There are rooms already prepared for you. Follow me, Konoha shinobi," he turned on his heel.

The four members of Team Naruto followed him carefully, ignoring the curious looks the rest of the guards were shooting them. Naruto frowned, and walked up until he was walking beside the man, "oji-san, where's Konan ... -san?"

The Ame shinobi gave him a searching look as they walked, "our Konan-sama cannot be expected to greet everyone who enters the village. She has other things to attend to. My comrades and I have only been instructed how on how you will be helping." He turned back to face them. "Those of you who can help in rebuilding will be given lead of some of our worker teams and blueprints of what needs to be built. The medic will be led to the hospital. You'll find that our iryounin-jutsu isn't as high-level as that of your own village, so the council has given you permission to propose any necessary changes. Now walk quickly. The rain is heavier in the night and you won't be of much use if you fall sick."

"That's all fine, but we need to speak with Konan-sama," Yamato added, joining them. "In her letter she … mentioned that she has something to tell us."

"Then she'll seek you out herself," the man replied stoically.

* * *

**(For those of you who got the update yesterday and didn't see it up, sorry! I had to fix some minor things.)**

**So this chapter was originally a little bit longer, but I couldn't find a good place to end it so I cut it at this point. **

**Ok. So. Phew. It's been a while. Remember all those one-day updates? Yeah. Not happening anymore. I think I find the need to put more effort into studying than most people put into life. **

**Anyway, even without INK there to drag me in front of my laptop and instruct me to type (she's like my Inner Sakura) I'm still dedicated to writing. In fact, I didn't actually stop writing. I've been working on another Time Travel fic under my alternate ****pen name Riya3 (title: 'Kokuten'. Try it, maybe?), and I've been updating that quite loyally, actually. I've also been working on a parody called 'The Art of Shipping', in which I attempt to parody every Naruto ship in existence. Yes, really :P. I can do a lot of writing projects at once because I type at the speed in which most people talk. Sometimes at council meetings, I take minutes in full dialogue-form and not a single word goes untyped. I could probably be the receptionist of every CEO's dreams (-_-''). **

**And also, the last chapter didn't get a lot of feedback and I was wondering if I did something wrong. When a review count goes from twenty reviews in one day to twenty reviews in one month, a writer starts to wonder. ****My chapter-plan for Lightning Speed has twenty chapters so far, but there might be more or less depending on where I decide to cut chapters (you can never know until you actually write them). Plot-wise it's an epic, but chapter-wise, it will move very fast. I like fast pacing in these types of stories ^^**

**Review ^^!**


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